Ethics

&
Values
• Ethics
– System of moral principles governing behaviors
and relationships
– Standards of right and wrong
• Morality
– Private, personal standards of right and wrong
• Laws reflect moral values of society
• Nurses have ethical responsibility to be client
advocates
WHAT ARE VALUES ???
• Values
– Personal beliefs about truth and worth of
behaviors, thought, objects
• Beliefs
– Interpretations or conclusion that one accepts as
true
Values
• Personal values develop from
– Individual social traditions
– Cultural, ethnic religious norms
• Professional values develop from
– Socialization into nursing profession
– Established code of ethics
– Faculty and other nurses
– Clinical and life experiences
• Values clarification